AI for Mortgage Brokers: End the Document Chase

Why does the document chase eat your week?

AI for mortgage brokers starts with one dull fact: most of a broker's admin is chasing papers. Payslips, bank statements, ID, proof of address. Then the same again, because one was blurry.

Picture a Tuesday. A client sends three photos in one email. One is a payslip, one is a bank statement from the wrong month, and one is a thumb. You open each one, work out what it is, rename it, file it and write back to ask for the right month.

Multiply that by every case, every week. It isn't hard work. It's slow work, and it sits between you and the part you're good at: advising people.

This is the heart of client onboarding for a broker. Get the papers in cleanly, and the rest of the case runs smoother.

Mortgage document automation takes the opening, checking, naming, filing and chasing off your desk. The advice and the decision stay with you.

How does one checklist per case help?

Each case starts with a checklist chosen by case type, so the client is asked for everything once, not in five separate emails.

Say you have an employed couple buying their first home, and a self-employed client remortgaging. Their lists differ. The employed couple need payslips. The self-employed client needs tax returns. You write each list once, and every new case of that type starts from it.

The request goes out as one clear email: here's what we need, here's how to send it, here's the date. That's client onboarding automation at its simplest. Nobody has to remember what to ask for.

Changing a list later is easy. Add a line, and every new case of that type picks it up.

Nobody has to guess whether the first email was clear enough. It's the same clear email every time.

This is built to order. It isn't running for a client yet. The checklists are yours: you tell us what each case type needs.

How are missing and out-of-date items caught?

Every document that arrives is read and checked against the list. Anything missing, unclear or too old is flagged, and a draft reminder names exactly what's still needed.

This is the part of intelligent document processing that matters most to a broker. A robot can read a page and see that it's a bank statement, from which month, for which account. If it's the wrong month, you don't find out three weeks later.

Think of a reminder that says 'We still need your March bank statement and a clearer photo of your passport' instead of 'Please send the rest of your documents'. Clients answer the first one faster.

Documents run out of date too. A payslip that was fine in January may be too old by April. The robot notes the date on each item, so you see what has gone stale before the lender does.

Anything the robot can't read with confidence goes to you, not into a guess. You look, decide and carry on.

Where do the files go?

Each item is filed in the client's case folder with a clear name, and one row on the case register records what it is and when it arrived.

The register can live in a sheet your team already uses, next to whatever system you use for applications. Open it and you see every case, what's in, what's missing, and what's waiting on whom.

No more hunting through a mailbox for 'that bank statement the Johnsons sent'. No more asking a colleague which version is the latest.

Say a client rings and asks, 'Did you get my payslip?' With the register, you answer in ten seconds, because you open one row and see it.

Here's what a case row typically shows:

• The client and the type of case.
• Every document on the list, ticked or not.
• The date each one arrived and its expiry date, if it has one.
• What's still outstanding.
• The next reminder, and when it goes out.

What does the reminder routine look like?

Reminders are prepared for you and follow a set rhythm. You see them first, read them and send them, or you let a type of reminder go automatic once you trust it.

Say a client has gone quiet for four days. A friendly reminder is ready in your drafts, listing the three things still missing. You skim it, press send, and the case moves on.

This is where our rule comes in: every step starts with your approval, then you choose when it goes automatic. A reminder is a good first candidate. A message about a rate or a decision never is.

Clients also like it. They get one clear message that says what's left, instead of a long email they have to decode.

Everything the robot does is written to a log, and one command stops it.

How do you get started?

Start with your most common case type. Write its checklist, send the next three cases through the new route and see how much time comes back.

You don't have to rebuild your files. Open cases carry on as they are. New cases use the checklist and the register.

Don't wait for a perfect setup. Even the checklist alone saves a surprising number of emails.

A good first month: one case type, one checklist, one register. Add more case types once the first one feels routine.

Our AI employees are rented by the month and work with your own mailbox, folders and sheets. Your client files stay in your accounts. If you stop, the workflow stops, and every document stays where it was filed.

Use the calculator below to see how many hours the chase takes today.

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